By James M. Dorsey As Egyptian general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al Sisi struggled this week to get Egyptians to cast their vote in parliamentary elections, militant soccer fans put widespread youth disillusionment with the president’s autocratic rule on public display. More than 10,000 fans rushed in response to a call by Ultras Ahlawy, the militant support … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey The Israel Football Association (IFA) acting on orders of the police has suspended what it calls ‘sensitive’ matches, a reference to professional and amateur games between Israeli Jewish and Israeli Palestinian squads. Police said the suspension on soccer pitches that have long signalled mounting tensions, violence, and racism in Israeli society … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey A Swiss government-sponsored unit of the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has defined world soccer body FIFA as a multi-national bound by the group’s guidelines. As a result, the group concluded that FIFA is responsible for the upholding of the human and labour rights of workers employed in … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Eritrea’s national team has for all practical purposes defected after 10 of its players this week refused to return home following a World Cup qualifier in Botswana. The defection and effective demise of the squad underscored the failure of autocratic rule in Eritrea already highlighted by the large contingent of Eritreans … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Israel’s most notorious soccer fan group, La Familia, known for its militant racism against Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, has put itself in the firing line as Israeli-Palestinian confrontations threaten to spark a third Intifada or popular Palestinian uprising on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Members of La Familia, … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey A staunch supporter of general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, has called on the government to allow soccer fans, a pillar of anti-government protest, back into stadia that have largely been closed to the public for nearly five years. Mr. Sawiri’s request on the eve of two African Confederation … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey The Egyptian interior ministry, in a potential signal that the country’s military-backed regime recognizes that its choking off of all public space could backfire, has agreed to allow fans to attend international matches played by the national team and Egyptian clubs. In doing so, the ministry de facto acknowledged that it … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Israel’s multiple fault lines – secular vs religious, Jewish vs Palestine and controversial calls for a boycott of the Jewish state – are exploding on the soccer pitch. The spill over comes as President Reuven Rivlin warned in a recent speech that Israel was being fragmented by four tribes that view … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey A panel in Doha of religious scholars, officials of Qatar’s government-sponsored human rights committee, and international labour activists has called on Qatar to radically alter its controversial labour policies. The call serves to support Qatari government promises of labour reform in response to World Cup-related international criticism and increases moral pressures … [Read more…]
By James M. Dorsey Militant soccer fans are on a roll in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia. Fans in Turkey and Egypt have defeated legal efforts to criminalize them as terrorists while Malaysian ultras are tackling corruption in and mismanagement of their country’s soccer association. In Germany, the pitch anticipated the government’s shift … [Read more…]